Gender Inequalities In Access Research Articles

Gender in Uganda’s tertiary educational distribution

Abstract Gender is a major factor in Uganda’s higher education system. This manuscript accounts for the conundrum of gender inequality in the system through a comparative multi group analysis of Gender Parity Index in 10 colleges and 158 fields of study. From a sample of 101 ​504 students, admitted in five public universities, from 112 districts, from 2009 to 2017, the study found that even though women in Uganda now participate in higher education in much greater numbers, gender realities on the ground have not changed. In fact, gender inequality in access to higher education has become much more nuanced and complex than was anticipated; half the population of women was found in one of ten colleges; in eight other colleges, men outnumbered women by a ratio of 8:2. Uganda’s higher education system was stereotypic of a system that reinforces the images of women in one field and that of men in another. The study calls for a differentiated approach to policy making, to change the history, customs and traditions of college admission, which remains strongly in favor of men, in order to address the conundrum of gender inequality in Uganda’s higher education system.

Unveiling gender barriers to adolescents' access to information on sexual and reproductive health in Venezuela

The objective was to analyze the discourses of adolescents and health professionals in a state of Venezuela concerning this age group's access to information on sexual and reproductive health. Interviews were conducted with 12 adolescents and 12 health professionals and processed with Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis. The results were structured in three themes: gender inequalities; strategies used by adolescents; and difficulties in the health services. The arguments revealed that matricentric family culture limits girls' access to information on sexual health. Greater effort is required of girls and homosexual adolescents to access information. Both of them seek health services outside their area of residence, due to fear of the family or lack of trust in professional secrecy. The prime sources for adolescents to information are friends and the Internet. One of the main challenges is to recognize the institutional devices acting in Venezuelan society, with greater force in power relations in the family, school, and health services. Such barriers reinforce the "sexual double standard", perpetuating models of patriarchal domination. The naturalization of such models allows the silent reproduction of beliefs and attitudes, causing gender inequalities in access to health services. Changes in the provision of services offered to adolescents involve renegotiation of traditional subjective positions in user-provider interaction and deconstruction of gender relations. Possible changes will be engendered with participation by new generations of adolescents, health professionals, parents, and teachers, producing more equitable gender discourses and norms.

Influence of productive resources on bean production in male- and female-headed households in selected bean corridors of Kenya

BackgroundGender-related constraints reflect gender inequalities in access to resources and development opportunities. Access to productive assets is a major issue in the gender empowerment discourse. Despite the significant roles women play in agriculture and food security in many developing countries, they continue to have a poorer command over a range of productive resources, including education, land, information and financial resources compared to their men counterparts. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of access and control of productive resources on bean production.ResultsData collected from 412 households in the major bean corridors of Kenya (Homa Bay, Machakos, Bomet and Narok counties) were used to explain the importance of access to productive resources and income use in determining the quantity of beans produced by households. We found that the sex of the respondent was significantly correlated with bean production, with female-headed households producing less beans than the male-headed ones (p = 0.0.08). With regard to access and control of productive resources, households with more agricultural incomes and those who put a larger proportion of their land to agriculture produced more beans (p = 0.008; p = 0.000, respectively). Access and use of fertilized and hired labour was also highly significant. When assessing decision making on the use of income from bean sales was considered, households where the female spouse made decisions produced less beans compared to those that had the male household head being the main decision maker (p = 0.011).ConclusionsWe concluded that access and control of productive assets are important in determining the quantity of beans produced at household level. There is a need therefore to come up with interventions which will benefit all the households but are targeted to the needs of the male- and female-headed households.

Elementary Education in India in the Era of Universalization of Education: Instrument of Access or the Perpetuation of Inequality

Sixty years of policymaking in the arena of elementary educational reforms in India and global focus through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have seen progress along with persisting inequality in access to education especially for socioeconomic and marginalized sections across the regions. This article focuses on analysis of two goals of MDGs which is related to universalization of education and reducing gender inequality in access to elementary education after introduction of policy interventions such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Right to Education (RTE) Act in India through Gender Equity Index (GEI) and Disparity Index (DI) in Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER). Results are still consistent with the fact that even after incentives such as SSA and RTE, the scenario of elementary education has not changed much for the deprived sections, even it has shown a declining trend after 2009 for Scheduled Tribes (ST) children. The social reproduction of inequality is being manifested now in the quality of elementary education in India.

Continuing Education: A Family Matter?

‪Is there a statistical relationship between changes in family status and access to continuing education? This article attempts to answer this question based on an empirical analysis of ‪ ‪Emploi en continu‪ ‪ (Continuous Employment) surveys conducted in France from 2003 to 2012. While the results show that for women childbirth is associated with a decrease in the likelihood of continuing education, they also suggest that children’s entry into the school system provides an opportunity for better educated people to participate more in company training. The formation and break-up of couples are also associated with gender inequalities in access to education: the break-up of a couple is negatively correlated with the probability of attending company training, especially for women who have custody of their children. For education offered by an employment agency, mostly aimed at the unemployed, it seems that what matters most is less the distribution of child custody than the employment status of the partners at the time of the break-up.‪

PROBLEMS OF RURAL GIRL STUDENTS IN HIGHEREDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

Higher Education means Tertiary Education, which is under taken in colleges (or) universities, and it may be delivered virtually (or) at a distance. There are a large number of problems that girl student’s face for developing their career potential. Some of the serious problems are as Follows: -Problems related to Home, Educational Institutions, Society, Economic problems, Educational problems. Rural girls belong to disable as per the data, Girl dropout ratio has increase with the enhanced pattern of gender inequality in access to education, which seems to be attainment and from urban to rural and to disadvantaged group in the society.Gender equality and the empowerment of women are gaining ground worldwide. There are more women Heads of state (or) Government then ever and the highest proportion of women serving as government ministers women are excursing ever-greater influence in business. More girls are going to school, and are growing up healthier and better equipped to realize their potential. Girl student’s suffer in many case, both form discrimination and from inequality treatment. It is easy to imagine that the difficulties encountered by rural girl students in obtaining higher education. Providing access to local relevant high-qualities education and training opportunities in critical to retaining rural girl students in Higher Educational Institutions.

When there is no justice: gendered violence and harm in post-conflict Sri Lanka

ABSTRACTReparative measures for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) attend to the practical needs of victims while also addressing the long-term structural conditions that led to the violence and often endure after conflict. Over the last decade, transitional justice has sought to address high levels of impunity for SGBV, while also addressing the long-term structural conditions causing and exacerbating it. In this article we study the case of Sri Lanka, where crimes have been committed during and after the civil war (1983–2009) but a transitional justice mechanism to redress them is unlikely to be established. The article considers whether in such a situation of impunity gender-sensitive approaches to SGBV prevention can still be promoted to ensure its non-recurrence. We closely examine post-conflict Sri Lanka and women’s ongoing experiences of multiple forms of insecurity and violence to highlight the relationship between enduring structural gender inequalities and reparative justice. Bridging human rights and political economy approaches, we argue that addressing gender inequalities in access to resources and public space is essential to prevent further gender-based violence and structural harms in conflict-affected countries like Sri Lanka.

Victimization of women as a consequence of feminization of migration

Bearing in mind the increased exposure of migrant women to victimization, this article analyses the etiology of feminization of migration and phenomenology of victimization of migrant women, particularly focusing on the abuse of female domestic workers and trafficking in women for sexual and labor exploitation. The main objective of this article is to offer suggestions for improving the position of female migrants by analyzing the causes and forms of their victimization. The main causes of feminization of migration include: 1) poverty, unemployment and poor economic conditions, 2) different forms of gender based violence, including domestic violence and sexual violence, and 3) gender inequality in access to education and information. In the context of phenomenology of feminization of migration the article considers as a main problem - unequal position of female migrants at the labor market, which is related to various forms of their discrimination. In order to eliminate discrimination of female migrants, it is concluded that it is crucial to improve employment conditions in countries of destination in terms of providing migrant women with the access to professional training, retraining and legal protection in case of unjustified termination of employment. On the other hand, because of the fact that female migrants are exposed to trafficking in women for sexual and labor exploitation in countries of destination, the states should provide the possibility of granting them a temporary residence permit during criminal proceedings against traffickers, in order to avoid secondary victimization of female victims of trafficking. In this regard, the main task of the international community must be a continuous and persistent struggle against all forms of discrimination against migrant women.

Does Microfinance Enhance Gender Equity in Access to Finance? Evidence from Pakistan

ABSTRACTThis paper descriptively analyzes longitudinal microfinance outreach numbers and interview data from 140 practitioners and borrowers in Pakistan to examine whether the claim that microfinance enhances gender equity in access to finance can be substantiated. This assertion has recently replaced the more ambitious contention that microfinance has an empowering impact on women. The paper argues that this shift has occurred because of increased commercialization at the global level and authoritative assessments against the empowerment claim. The study further considers whether the frame of competing logics from institutional theory can explain the case of the Pakistani microfinance sector, in which, as shown here, commercialized microfinance has actually led to a rise in gender inequalities in access to finance. The paper attributes this rise to the inability of the Pakistani microfinance sector to reconcile the competing logics of development and banking.

English

Rural areas of Ethiopia strikingly vary in terms of social and economic structure, geography and culture. The same is true for rural women’s participation in productive activities. Likewise rural women of Gamo Gofa Zone are experiencing inadequate right to access different productive resources like land and other resources they require. This study therefore, intends to identify the existing rural women’s access to productive resources and its effect on the stated poverty reduction strategy in the study area. The study explicitly reflect as the rural agriculture sector, where gender inequalities in access to productive resources are persistent, undermining a sustainable and inclusive development of the sector and their contribution for poverty reduction. Key words: Rural women, access to, domestic chores, division of labor, poverty reduction.

Running Ahead or Running in Place? Educational Expansion and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market

This study focuses on gender inequality in access to professional and managerial jobs and in pay among highly educated workers in Israel. Like many other Western countries, Israel has experienced a dramatic rise in higher education since the early 1990s, and more so for women than for men. In light of this change, the study asks whether women’s opportunities in the labor market have improved or rather deteriorated in access to professional and managerial jobs and in pay. The findings show that, in general, women with academic education improved their market position vis-a-vis men. They have entered formerly male-dominated jobs and managed to reduce some of the gaps in access to the better-paying professions. There is also a general decline in the gender pay gap. However, women still lag behind men, especially in the highly-paid “classic” professions. Inequality is lowest in non-professional jobs, where more women than men are employed and for which the workers are overeducated.

Education, male gender preference and migrants' remittances: Interactions in rural Morocco

The paper seeks to analyze the relationship between migrants' remittances and educational attendance in rural areas of southern Morocco. We perform a probit model to assess whether children who live in recipient households are more likely to attend school than their counterparts in other types of households. We find that the receipt of remittances has a significant positive effect on school attendance, especially for boys. The findings may be of interest to other developing countries and to the relevant policy makers, as the results suggest that migrants' remittance may serve as a channel for investing in human capital in such recipient countries and that the gains are much greater for boys, contributing to higher gender inequalities in access to education in rural areas.

Gender Inequalities in Access to Health Care among Adults Living in British Columbia, Canada

IntroductionExisting literature is inconclusive as to whether disparities in access to health care between men and women are mainly driven by socioeconomic or gender inequalities. The aim of this study was to assess whether gender was independently associated with perceived unmet health care needs among a representative sample of British Columbia adults. MethodsUsing data from the 2011/2012 Canadian Community Health Survey, logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the independent effect of gender on perceived unmet health care needs adjusting for potential individual and contextual confounders. ResultsAmong 12,252 British Columbia adults (51.9% female), the prevalence of perceived unmet health care needs was 12.0%, with a significantly greater percentage among women compared with men (13.7% vs. 10.1%; p < .001). After adjusting for multiple confounders, women had independently increased odds of perceived unmet health care needs (adjusted odds ratio, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.11–1.68). DiscussionThe current study found that, among a representative sample of British Columbia adults and adjusting for various individual and contextual factors, female gender was associated independently with an increased odds of perceived unmet health care needs. ConclusionThese findings suggest that within Canada's universal health system, gender further explains differences in health care access, over and above socioeconomic inequalities. Interventions within and outside the health sector are required to achieve equitable access to health care for all residents in British Columbia.

The Development Hypothesis of Women Empowerment in the Millennium Development Goals Tested in the Context Women’s Access to Land in Africa

An important hypothesis implicit in the third of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is tested in this study. The hypothesis is that women empowerment can facilitate attainment of other development goals. Africa is the empirical referent and people’s access to land constitutes the substantive focus. A multiple regression model having as its dependent variable, gender-based inequality in access to land (GENDINEQ) is employed. Indicators of women empowerment—women’s literacy, proportion of women with a secondary education, proportion of women with formal employment, and women in government—as stipulated in Goal #3 of the MDGs constitute the predictor variables. All but one variable, women’s literacy, are negatively associated with GENDINEQ. This affirms the hypothesized inverse relationship between women’s empowerment and gender inequality in access to land. The exception is not statistically significant and might have occurred by chance. Thus, authorities in Africa would do well to pursue gender empowerment policies as a means of increasing women’s access to land and other valuable resources.

English

If policies for the promotion of gender equality are to be realizable their goals must include equitable distribution of health related resources in line with MDG goals 3 and 5 which focus on promoting gender equality, empowerment of women and family planning. This requires careful identification of the similarities and differences in the use of family planning as a component of reproductive health. It also necessitates an analysis of the gendered obstacles that currently prevent men and women from participating or using family planning. Reasons for inequalities in the use of family planning include patriarchal culture, religious beliefs and sex preference manifested in discrimination against female children in health and general care. This paper examines gender inequality in family planning practice and sustainable development in Nigeria, using Patriarchal theory as the framework. The paper strongly argued that socio-cultural factors as well as gender roles influence the use of family planning and affect health and sustainable development in Nigeria. It outlines some measures for change which include policies to ensure universal access to reproductive health care, to reduce gender inequalities in access to resources and to relax the constraints of rigidly defined gender roles. The paper recommends that strategies to improve true sustainable development will depend on the empowerment of women in Nigerian through education and access to socio economic opportunities. The paper further recommends policy initiatives to include men in family planning programmes in Nigeria to engender equity in health and sustainable development. Key words: Gender equity, family planning, patriarchy, sustainable development.

Gender Inequality in Access to Formal Social Security Schemes among Members in the Informal Sector in Laikipia East District, Kenya

Access to the social security schemes by the public is important in ensuring the social welfare of individuals both in the formal and the informal sector, thus the motivation to carry out a study on the challenges facing access to the schemes by the members of the informal sector. This is a sociological study on gender inequality in the access to formal security schemes among members of the informal sector in Laikipia East District. This study was motivated by the desire to document the possible challenges faced by members in this sector in accessing formal social security schemes while taking into consideration the gender differences. Social development theory was used to explain the relationship between the variables of the study. Literature review showed that despite the presence of various legislative provisions on social security in Kenya, the level of access to social security among members in the informal sector had not been widely documented. The study adopted a descriptive statistics research design. The unit of analysis were members of the informal sector. Stratified sampling technique was used to sample 200 respondents for the study while purposive sampling technique was used to sample the key respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as instruments for data collection. Cross-tabulation was done to show the relationship between different variable investigated. This study found that there was low access to social security schemes among the members of the informal sector where female members were found to have less access to the schemes (5.5%) compared to their male counterparts (7.5%). Awareness was found to be a major hindrance to the access to social security schemes where female members of the informal sector were found to be less aware of the available schemes (71%) compared to the male (61%). Economic factors were also found to hinder access to the schemes and again female members in the informal sector were the hardest hit with 78% indicating that they were not able to remit the monthly contribution compared to 46% male who could not remit the contributions. Finally, government policy on the minimum contribution to the schemes was found to affect access to the schemes where most affected population in the informal sector were female (87%) compared to the male (83%).

The Phenomenon of Gender Inequality in Access to and Equity in University Education in Nigeria

Education is a fulcrum for achieving progress in all aspects of human life. This is in consonance with the 1998 World Conference on Education Commitment that higher education should be geared towards development and progress. Therefore, it is expected that higher education is equally accessible to all, all persons seeking higher education have optimal range of choice and participation of women in higher education should be emphasized. This paper, therefore, examine the meaning of gender inequality, access and equity, as well as the rationale to ensure gender equitable access in university education in Nigeria. Also, the paper highlights the trends in male and female enrolment in university education and the factors that give rise to gender inequality in equitable access to university education in Nigeria. Finally, the paper examines measures to enhance gender equitable access to university education in Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n7p129

Need for and Access to Health Care and Medicines: Are There Gender Inequities?

ObjectiveDifferences between women and men in political and economic empowerment, education, and health risks are well-documented. Similar gender inequities in access to care and medicines have been hypothesized but evidence is lacking.MethodsWe analyzed 2002 World Health Survey data for 257,922 adult respondents and 80,932 children less than 5 years old from 53 mostly low and middle-income countries. We constructed indicators of need for, access to, and perceptions of care, and we described the number of countries with equal and statistically different proportions of women and men for each indicator. Using multivariate logistic regression models, we estimated effects of gender on our study outcomes, overall and by household poverty.FindingsWomen reported significantly more need for care for three of six chronic conditions surveyed, and they were more likely to have at least one of the conditions (OR 1.41 [95% CI 1.38, 1.44]). Among those with reported need for care, there were no consistent differences in access to care between women and men overall (e.g., treatment for all reported chronic conditions, OR 1.00 [0.96, 1.04]) or by household poverty. Of concern, access to care for chronic conditions was distressingly low among both men and women in many countries, as was access to preventive services among boys and girls less than 5 years old.ConclusionsThese cross-country results do not suggest a systematic disadvantage of women in access to curative care and medicines for treating selected chronic conditions or acute symptoms, or to preventive services among boys and girls.

Is partner consent for a woman's participation in fertility clinical trials justified? the reproductive medicine network experience

Issues of justice and paternalism have been raised to address gender inequities in access to clinical trials. Reproductive research poses unique challenges in this regard. Our goal was to examine the salient issues of partner consent and women's access to fertility clinical trials in the context of a clinical trial (NCT01044862) of the Reproductive Medicine Network funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Rural women's access to land in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for meeting the Millennium Development Goals

abstract Increasingly, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been critiqued in relation to the neglect of social inequalities and for reinforcing the subordinate position of women. The neglect extends to concerns of current development agendas that tend to undermine women's empowerment and reinforce gender inequalities. Southern-based countries’ priorities have been often defined around the need to meet basic necessities and national debt and the MDGs may require much activism on the ground to ensure that gender equality is addressed. This Article examines the implications of pervasive and persistent gender inequalities in access to and control over land resources in rural sub-Saharan Africa in relation to the MDGs. In particular, widespread patriarchal practices that prevent women's access to and control over land will result in MDG 3, the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, being undermined. Land access and rights are critical in relation to meaningfully empowering women (economically, socially and politically) and to address practical and strategic gender needs. This Article examines impacts of unequal access to land, an important socio-economic and political resource, on MDGs 1 (the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger), 2 (achieving universal primary education) and 7 (ensuring environmental sustainability). Attention to linkages with other MDGs is a contribution to the literature which tends to focus almost exclusively on women's empowerment (MDG 3). Additionally, the Article critically examines policy gaps and provides recommendations to advocate for strengthening women's land rights and creating conditions for broadening their access to land.